There are certain people in Hollywood that seem to get just a little more attention on their personal life. You’ll spot them on tabloids, the rumors will fly about their dating lives, and the celebrity gossip blogs will be buzzing with the latest on the speculations about what they must be feeling after their ex was seen with another woman.

Nobody fits this model more than Jennifer Aniston. In 2005 husband Brad Pitt developed a relationship with costar Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, leading to the couple’s divorce. And from here, it seemed Aniston couldn’t catch a break from being America’s sweetheart turned America’s tabloid target. While the events that unfolded during this time were surely devastating, Aniston did not generally speak out; it just wasn’t her style. This silence just spurred on more speculation from the tabloids to come up with a story, and that they did.

At every turn, she was reportedly in a feud, destroyed, pregnant, cheating, and obsessed with the relationship of “Brangelina”. Yet none of this actually came from her, or people near her. Just tabloid speculation turning a woman going through a humiliating, painful experience into a weak, pathetic, pitiful girl. Although her silence didn’t confirm any of this narrative, it enabled the tabloids to keep it going. Even when she wrote a letter to set things straight and give her two cents, it didn’t really change how the tabloids wrote about Aniston.

So for the InStyle September cover shoot, she sat down with friend Molly McNearney for an interview. And surely, that had to help set her at ease to actually open up and talk about these experiences with the tabloids creating this false narrative about her all these years. When you’re sitting down with a good friend, it surely doesn’t feel like an official interview at all – just a good chat. When asked about the tabloids, she comments on how they make reckless assumptions. Particularly on her being a mother, she notes:

No one considers how sensitive that might be for my partner and me. They don’t know what I’ve been through medically or emotionally. There is a pressure on women to be mothers, and if they are not, then they’re deemed damaged goods. Maybe my purpose on this planet isn’t to procreate. Maybe I have other things I’m supposed to do?”

She goes on to talk about the #TimesUp movement with a more balanced perspective that I personally think is refreshing, and about being a creeper on Instagram. Of course, she talks up her latest film, Dumplin’, a musical comedy about a plus size teen daughter of a former beauty queen who enters a beauty pageant as a protest. Um, yes!

The cover shoot itself looks ahhhh-mazing. Aniston has always had a natural beauty about her, and the stylists and photographer have captured this without dolling her up in crazy caked on pounds of makeup.

There was also a lot of leg going on – probably one of her most enviable assets – showed off by lacy shorts and a jacket over hot pants for a use-your-imagination-boys look. Get it, girl.